Book Review: 'In Some Other World, Maybe'

Shari Goldhagen's sophomore novel, "In Some Other World, Maybe" takes four characters and shuffles them up like a deck of cards for the next 20 years. And the result is breathtaking.

In Florida, Adam takes a girl he likes to a showing of the movie "Eons & Empires." At the same time, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sharon ditches school so she can go to see the movie without her slightly vapid group of friends. In Chicago, Ollie and Phoebe go to the movie on their first date.

Fast forward a few years, and Phoebe lives with Adam in Los Angeles. Sharon lives in New York, and is dating Phoebe's brother.

"In Some Other World, Maybe" is a reminder that the people we meet in life have pasts and futures of their own. They have first dates; they skip school to go see guilty-pleasure movies alone. They have friends and families.

This book is an entangling of stories, and of characters, in the best possible way. Goldhagen takes a cross-section of lives and brings it to life with captivating characters, and experiences that will make it nearly impossible to put the book down.